29 April 2012

ASIA DE CUBA

Today I got rained on a lot,going to the gym and then again walking to St Martins Lane Hotel, where I dried off and hid from the grim weather having lunch at Asia de Cuba.

Asia de Cuba calamari salad

I had the signature calamari salad dish to start, which was delicious although perhaps had too many flavours (hearts of palm, bananas, chicory, radicchio, cashew nuts, sesame, chayote topped with crispy calamari and lime) followed by the pan seared ahi tuna with wasabi mash for main, which was small but perfectly formed and delicious.

I think of Jeffrey Chodorow's restaurant as a date venue, but bear it in mind if you're looking for a lunch spot as Philippe Starck's striking minimal decor is uber-stylish, the Asian-meets-Latin menu is creative and unusual, and it's smack bang in the middle of the West End.

oh hi, ahi tuna

We then went next door to the Light Bar for a glass of champagne and by the time I came out the sun was shining for the first time all weekend...

(P.S. Can you tell I just got my first iPhone? After years of being a faithful BlackBerry user, I've come over to the dark side and I am finally on Instagram! My user name is @emmalouiselayla).